Young child dies after not being fed for almost 2 days, Missouri cops say. Mom charged

A young child was not fed for nearly two days, resulting in their death, Missouri authorities say.

Alyssa Wehmeyer, the child’s mother, is now charged with endangering the welfare of a child resulting in death following the Feb. 28 incident, court records show. KFVS reported the victim was a 1-year-old.

Wehmeyer, of Cape Girardeau, said she last fed the child in the 5 p.m. hour of Feb. 26, according to the court documents. She said she put the toddler to bed at 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 27, at which point it had been more than 24 hours since they had eaten.

A little more than seven hours later, the child woke up crying and Wehmeyer held the toddler for at least 30 minutes before laying the child back down, authorities say, citing the mother’s testimony.

When Wehmeyer went to check on the 1-year-old at 1 p.m. on Feb. 28, the child was not breathing and their lips were blue, according to the court documents.

Authorities said it had been 43 hours since the child was fed. For 19 of those hours, the toddler was in their crib unattended without their diaper being changed.

As they were investigating the death, authorities observed “severe blisters” on the child from diaper rash, according to the probable cause affidavit.

Wehmeyer said she would taken her child to a doctor or changed their diaper, “but she had a migraine” and had laid down for a nap after taking three Excedrin, court documents show.

Wehymer, who according to KFVS is 21, was jailed in Scott County on a $100,000 bond, records show.

Cape Girardeau is about a 115-mile drive southeast from St. Louis.

This story was originally published March 5, 2025 at 8:45 AM with the headline "Young child dies after not being fed for almost 2 days, Missouri cops say. Mom charged."